


unto the sweet bird's throat

by blackkat



Series: hawks 'verse [13]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking & Talking, F/M, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: “Is that ahickey?” Aayla demands, delighted.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-5052 | Bly/Aayla Secura, Keeli (Star Wars)/Quinlan Vos
Series: hawks 'verse [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825195
Comments: 25
Kudos: 560





	unto the sweet bird's throat

“Is that a _hickey_?” Aayla demands, delighted.

Quinlan doesn’t blush, and he doesn’t slap a hand over the mark, but it’s tempting. “Aayla, I've been home for _three hours_ , get out of my face,” he complains, and splays a hand over her face, shoving her back.

Aayla goes with a laugh, but she pulls herself up onto the barstool next to him, heels hooked over the bottom rung. “I know precisely how long you’ve been home,” she retorts. “Which means it must have happened earlier. Did you have a fling while on the dig?”

“A fling? Who, Quinlan?” Obi-Wan asks, carrying their drinks over and setting them on the bar. He sounds surprised enough to be insulting, and Quinlan rolls his eyes. Undeterred, Obi-Wan leans over, shoves his dreadlocks back, and raises his brows. “That isn't just a _hickey_ , that looks like you got attacked by a vampire in the jungle, and he was a messy eater.”

“Asked Cody out yet?” Quinlan retorts, and swats his hand away.

On his other side, Aayla winces, but reaches out and shoves Obi-Wan’s drink closer to him. “ _Quinlan_ ,” she chides.

“It’s been _four years_ ,” Quinlan says, pointed. “I have _students_ who have been married for less time than Obi-Wan’s been _pining._ ”

“You needn’t make me sound like some kind of Victorian maiden,” Obi-Wan says, aggrieved, though there's a mournful note to it as well. He sighs into his martini, swirling the liquor around the glass. “I introduced Cody to Jon and he was _captivated_. Not that I can blame him—Jon cuts a dashing figure when you finally manage to pry him out of the trees. But then Jon only had eyes for Rex, and…I'm afraid I helped break Cody's heart.”

Quinlan turns an incredulous look on Aayla, who looks pained. If this is what she’s been dealing with the whole four months Quinlan was gone, he can't blame her.

But—

“Jon?” he asks. “ _Antilles_? Wasn’t he dead?”

“Apparently not,” Aayla says, tipping one shoulder in a graceful shrug and picking up her whiskey. “Again.”

The records department at the university must hate him, Quinlan thinks, amused. He takes a sip of his own cocktail—neon pink and fruity and _delicious_ , ordered only partially for the way it makes Obi-Wan’s eye twitch when he looks at it—and casts a glance at Aayla. “So what about you? Why are you drinking on a weeknight?”

Aayla pulls a face. “I'm waiting for Bly to propose,” she says, and Quinlan swallows his groan because he’s a _good_ brother, “but he won't even though we discussed it and we’re both for marriage. I'm afraid he just…won't.”

“Didn’t you have to ask him out as well?” Obi-Wan asks gently. “Perhaps he’s just bad at taking the initiative.”

Quinlan _knows_ Bly is planning to propose—he helped the kid pick out a ring barely two months after he and Aayla started dating. It’s been almost two years now, and the fact that he still hasn’t gathered his balls and done it makes Quinlan consider cornering him in a dark alleyway somewhere and having a chat with him. Nice and friendly-like. Keeli might even agree to help; he seems to have even less patience with his brothers’ reticence than Quinlan does.

Before he can build more than a vague outline of plans in his head, though, Aayla makes a sound and kicks the leg of his chair lightly. “But we aren’t talking about _us_ right now. You met someone?”

“You want the details?” Quinlan asks, giving her a smirk. “He likes to top and he’s got a thing for holding me down, and you should see the size of his—”

“Ah,” Obi-Wan says with an air of enlightenment. “So it _wasn’t_ a one-night stand. Who is it? Someone we would know?”

Quinlan stares at him, not entirely sure what to say to that. “ _What_?” he demands, and it’s maybe a little defensive.

Obi-Wan waves his martini expressively, because that’s the kind of person he is. Quinlan has no idea why they're friends. “If it was a one-off, you would have told us precisely who it was and how big their dick was instead of alluding. That you're maintaining an air of mystery means you _care_. How delightful for you, Quinlan.”

He means that without a trace of sarcasm. Of course he does.

“Well?” Aayla asks, and bumps his chair again. “Who is it? A local from the dig?”

“Do I look like I hate myself that much?” Quinlan asks, amused. “No, I bailed him out of jail, but he’s not from Tholoth.”

“Not a student,” Aayla says, and when Quinlan makes a face at her, she laughs at him. “Yes, yes, I know. A volunteer there?”

“Is he based _here_?” Obi-Wan asks, always too sharp except where Cody is concerned, and Quinlan snorts and takes another sip of his drink. “He _is_. Who is it?”

“Let me have _some_ secrets,” Quinlan complains, and shoves Aayla's foot away when she makes to kick him in the ankle. “Quit that!”

“You're not telling us,” Aayla says, delighted, because she’s a fucking _homing missile_ or something. “It _is_ someone we know.”

“You definitely don’t know him,” Quinlan says, which is true. Hopefully. Keeli was in the Peace Corp for two years, and the army before that. He hasn’t been in Coruscant much since he left high school.

Aayla’s eyes narrow thoughtfully, but on Quinlan's other side, Obi-Wan sets his glass down with a ringing thump and says, astonished, “You're dating a _Fett_?”

“How do you _do_ that?” Quinlan demands, peeved. “Come _on_.”

“You _are_ ,” Aayla says, and there's a thread of glee sliding into her voice. “You’ve been mocking us for _years_ for having the same taste in men, and now _you have it too_.”

Quinlan groans, debating the merits of just chugging his drink and bolting. Keeli isn't coming to pick him up for another hour, though. He’s trapped with a pair of barracudas, and there's no escape. “I do not, Keeli's different.”

“Keeli,” Obi-Wan repeats, brows rising. “The family disaster?”

“I met him in a _jail cell_ , so obviously.” When Obi-Wan opens his mouth, Quinlan gives him a look. “I was on the other side of the bars, thanks.”

Obi-Wan closes his mouth, very pointedly.

“You _will_ introduce us,” Aayla tells him, reclaiming her drink. “There’s a barbeque in a week, with all Fetts expected to be in attendance.”

That can only mean that Jango's in town. Quinlan grins, eyeing Obi-Wan’s hunted hunch, and says, “Oh, believe me, I wouldn’t miss it. For _anything_. Obi-Wan, have you told Cody yet that you and his dad once—”

“ _Quinlan Vos_ , if you finish that sentence, I'm telling Depa that you got Caleb drunk in Tholoth.”

Quinlan splutters. “I did no such thing!”

Obi-Wan’s smile is pure evil. “Yes, but who will she be more likely to believe? Me, or _you_?”

Quinlan _definitely_ should have stayed in Tholoth.


End file.
